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Practicing a new language can be fun, but premium language apps can be expensive. Babbel makes it easier with practical, bite-sized lessons designed for real-life use, focusing on conversations you’d actually have—ordering food, chatting with the locals, asking for directions (read PCMag's in-depth review of Babbel to learn more)—and right now, its lifetime subscription is on sale for a huge discount. Right now, a lifetime subscription to Babbel is on sale for $159 with promo code LEARN. The sale ends October 5. It's a one-time payment—no recurring fees, no monthly charges—for lifetime access to all 14 languages (including French, German, Italian, and Spanish), making it cheaper than Babbel’s regular one-year plan at $300.
Babbel’s lessons take just 10 to 15 minutes, so you can squeeze your practice into a commute or coffee break. And, unlike other language-learning apps that rely on repetitive vocabulary drills or random gamified exercises, Babbel follows a structured, linguist-designed curriculum that progressively increases in difficulty, so you don't plateau after the basics (earning itself a place in PCMag's "The Best Language Learning Apps for 2025" roundup). Plus, it’s not just passive learning—you get writing, speaking, and listening exercises with speech recognition technology to fine-tune your pronunciation, creating a far more immersive experience.
Of course, dedication is still key, and no app will make you fluent, but if you’re willing to put in the effort, this Babbel lifetime subscription gives you the tools to succeed without the burden of ongoing costs.
My poem "the jacarandas are unimpressed by your show of force" is up at Strange Horizons. It isn't the first jacaranda poem I've written, and likely won't be the last. This one (with a nod to Dylan Thomas) was inspired by the confluence of jacaranda season and...everything else happening in Los Angeles and this country. I am so happy it found a home at Strange Horizons.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
Practicing a new language can be fun, but premium language apps can be expensive. Babbel makes it easier with practical, bite-sized lessons designed for real-life use, focusing on conversations you’d actually have—ordering food, chatting with the locals, asking for directions (read PCMag's in-depth review of Babbel to learn more)—and right now, its lifetime subscription is on sale for a huge discount. Right now, a lifetime subscription to Babbel is on sale for $159 with promo code LEARN. The sale ends October 5. It's a one-time payment—no recurring fees, no monthly charges—for lifetime access to all 14 languages (including French, German, Italian, and Spanish), making it cheaper than Babbel’s regular one-year plan at $300.
Babbel’s lessons take just 10 to 15 minutes, so you can squeeze your practice into a commute or coffee break. And, unlike other language-learning apps that rely on repetitive vocabulary drills or random gamified exercises, Babbel follows a structured, linguist-designed curriculum that progressively increases in difficulty, so you don't plateau after the basics (earning itself a place in PCMag's "The Best Language Learning Apps for 2025" roundup). Plus, it’s not just passive learning—you get writing, speaking, and listening exercises with speech recognition technology to fine-tune your pronunciation, creating a far more immersive experience.
Of course, dedication is still key, and no app will make you fluent, but if you’re willing to put in the effort, this Babbel lifetime subscription gives you the tools to succeed without the burden of ongoing costs.
Looking for another job while currently employed inevitably feels like living a double life. You have to keep up with your current tasks and responsibilities at work so that nobody becomes suspicious about what you might be up to. At the same time, though, you need to make yourself available for interviews with other companies while devoting enough time and energy to preparing for those interviews so that you actually do a good job. It's a tough balancing act that few can accomplish with ease, and this employee certainly tried to pull it off. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly turn out the way they had hoped it would.
After being contacted on Indeed by a competitor, this author decided to hear what these folks had to say and took an interview with them. They weren't actually looking seriously for other job opportunities. This position would actually be a lateral move, but it would be at a company that was closer to their location and therefore more convenient for their commute. After a successful interview, the author felt good about their chances and was told they would hear more very soon. However, nothing was set in stone.
Soon thereafter, the author was confronted by their CEO, who had connected the dots and figured out that they were looking for work elsewhere. The author was backed into a corner and was unable to deny it. That's when they learned that the fragile CEO was letting the employee go as a result. The author began to suspect foul play. After all, how did the CEO figure it out? It's not like the employee was absent or doing a poor job in their current role. When the author contacted the other company, it became clear that there was, in fact, some communication behind their back.
Since Apple first introduced iOS 26 during its WWDC keynote address this past June, most of the attention has been on the divisive "Liquid Glass" design overhaul—but there's a lot more to the latest version of the iPhone software.
While the big iOS 26 features, including ones that Apple borrowed from others, got everyone talking, some of the most exciting updates have gotten a lot less attention. Here are three dozen of my favorites.
36 of the best under-the-radar features in iOS 26
Credit: Apple
The above slide is all we have to go on for these features. Some of them are obvious from the title alone, but others aren't so clear. I've tried to add context wherever I can, but there is some speculation necessary here until we know more about iOS 26:
Custom snooze length for alarms: If you want to snooze for more or less than the standard nine minutes, this feature could be really useful.
AirPods Automatic Switching with CarPlay: Automatic switching lets you quickly connect your AirPods to the Apple device you're actively using. It looks like Apple is extending it to CarPlay, too.
Enhance Dialogue: This feature should mean Apple Podcasts can boost vocals in podcasts and suppress background noises. All of the best podcast apps must have this feature.
Use Focus to silence SIM: It looks like iOS 26 will let you use Focuses to silence one SIM, which is great for those who use two numbers on their iPhone.
Communication requests: Screen Time could be getting support for requests to use messaging apps. This may allow parents to better regulate who their children are talking to.
'Add Contact' button in groups: This could make it easy to add people to your contacts from a group in the Messages app.
Rich entry layout: The Journal app is getting a better layout for starting a new entry, but we don't quite know what that is yet.
Events in Photos: It looks like iOS 26 will add support for events in the Photos app.
Lens cleaning hint: If your iPhone or iPad's camera lens is dirty, iOS 26's Camera app will ask you to clean it.
Specify spelling with Dictation: A neat way to reduce typos when you're using Dictation to type.
Auto-Categorize: Reminders will be able to automatically sort your to-dos.
Manage AutoFill credit cards in Wallet: It appears that Apple is moving stored credit card data to the Wallet app.
Safety Check while blocking a contact: Safety Check removes other people's access to shared iPhone data, such as your location. Apple seems to be adding Safety Check prompts when you block a contact as another way to ensure your safety.
Photo previews: Messages is gaining the ability to show image previews on your iPhone, though it's not clear exactly how that compares to the current system.
Relevant video thumbnails in search results: Based on this description, it looks like search results in Photos may now include specific parts of a video that are relevant to the search term.
Arabic Calculator: The calculator app is getting a new mode.
AirPods pause media when asleep: Your AirPods can detect when you've dozed off and pause media accordingly. This detection likely ties to Apple Watch.
Easier controller pairing: Apple's making it easy to pair gaming controllers with your iPhone and iPad.
Suggested reminders: iOS 26 might suggest reminders based on your iPhone activity.
Select partial text in a bubble: In iOS 18, the Messages app lets you copy an entire text you've sent or received, but it doesn't allow you to select a part of the message. That's about to change with iOS 26.
More playback speeds: Apple Podcasts in iOS 18 supports playback speeds from 0.75x to 2x. It's going to get more speed options in iOS 26, though we don't know which or how many yet.
Multiscript keyboard for Arabic/English: For easier switching between the two languages.
New Monogram styles: The Phone app now supports more Monogram options.
Natural language search: It might be easier to search in Messages. Natural language could let you narrow down searches even if you don't remember the correct search operators.
Adaptive power: Your iPhone will make small changes, such as lowering brightness, to improve battery life.
Password history: Apple Passwords will remember older passwords used with any login item.
Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.
Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?
There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.
This Week's Question: Share your favourite crafting tip, if you have one.
If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.
Since Apple first introduced iOS 26 during its WWDC keynote address this past June, most of the attention has been on the divisive "Liquid Glass" design overhaul—but there's a lot more to the latest version of the iPhone software.
While the big iOS 26 features, including ones that Apple borrowed from others, got everyone talking, some of the most exciting updates have gotten a lot less attention. Here are three dozen of my favorites.
36 of the best under-the-radar features in iOS 26
Credit: Apple
The above slide is all we have to go on for these features. Some of them are obvious from the title alone, but others aren't so clear. I've tried to add context wherever I can, but there is some speculation necessary here until we know more about iOS 26:
Custom snooze length for alarms: If you want to snooze for more or less than the standard nine minutes, this feature could be really useful.
AirPods Automatic Switching with CarPlay: Automatic switching lets you quickly connect your AirPods to the Apple device you're actively using. It looks like Apple is extending it to CarPlay, too.
Enhance Dialogue: This feature should mean Apple Podcasts can boost vocals in podcasts and suppress background noises. All of the best podcast apps must have this feature.
Use Focus to silence SIM: It looks like iOS 26 will let you use Focuses to silence one SIM, which is great for those who use two numbers on their iPhone.
Communication requests: Screen Time could be getting support for requests to use messaging apps. This may allow parents to better regulate who their children are talking to.
'Add Contact' button in groups: This could make it easy to add people to your contacts from a group in the Messages app.
Rich entry layout: The Journal app is getting a better layout for starting a new entry, but we don't quite know what that is yet.
Events in Photos: It looks like iOS 26 will add support for events in the Photos app.
Lens cleaning hint: If your iPhone or iPad's camera lens is dirty, iOS 26's Camera app will ask you to clean it.
Specify spelling with Dictation: A neat way to reduce typos when you're using Dictation to type.
Auto-Categorize: Reminders will be able to automatically sort your to-dos.
Manage AutoFill credit cards in Wallet: It appears that Apple is moving stored credit card data to the Wallet app.
Safety Check while blocking a contact: Safety Check removes other people's access to shared iPhone data, such as your location. Apple seems to be adding Safety Check prompts when you block a contact as another way to ensure your safety.
Photo previews: Messages is gaining the ability to show image previews on your iPhone, though it's not clear exactly how that compares to the current system.
Relevant video thumbnails in search results: Based on this description, it looks like search results in Photos may now include specific parts of a video that are relevant to the search term.
Arabic Calculator: The calculator app is getting a new mode.
AirPods pause media when asleep: Your AirPods can detect when you've dozed off and pause media accordingly. This detection likely ties to Apple Watch.
Easier controller pairing: Apple's making it easy to pair gaming controllers with your iPhone and iPad.
Suggested reminders: iOS 26 might suggest reminders based on your iPhone activity.
Select partial text in a bubble: In iOS 18, the Messages app lets you copy an entire text you've sent or received, but it doesn't allow you to select a part of the message. That's about to change with iOS 26.
More playback speeds: Apple Podcasts in iOS 18 supports playback speeds from 0.75x to 2x. It's going to get more speed options in iOS 26, though we don't know which or how many yet.
Multiscript keyboard for Arabic/English: For easier switching between the two languages.
New Monogram styles: The Phone app now supports more Monogram options.
Natural language search: It might be easier to search in Messages. Natural language could let you narrow down searches even if you don't remember the correct search operators.
Adaptive power: Your iPhone will make small changes, such as lowering brightness, to improve battery life.
Password history: Apple Passwords will remember older passwords used with any login item.
A labor man broke his leg on the job by slipping between some dangerous high-rise scaffolding, but instead of leaving him to fend for himself with the medical bills and the leave, his manager stepped up and defended him. Knowing that it would cost the managerial team their safety bonuses, this upstanding subcontractor diligently recorded all of the events of his employee's injury and refused to let corporate brush his physical ailments to the wayside.
The right thing to do isn't always the easiest, but when it comes to meticulous compliance, this contractor is the defendant you want in your corner defending your case, because he was prepared to go the extra mile in good conscience.
Designed for kids aged three and over and built with OpenAI’s technology, the toy is supposed to “learn” your child’s personality and have fun, educational conversations with them. It’s advertised as a healthier alternative to screen time and is part of a growing market of AI-powered toys.
Can we get a very loud UGH?
I thought I'd linked somewhere to the instructive tale of techbro who made, was it an interactive doll or was it a teddybear for his daughter, that would talk to her, and in very short order she turned the thing off and played with it as Ye Kiddyz have played with dolls since dolls were A Thing (Ancient Sumeria???). Can't find it, however.
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If you’re tired of websites bombarding you with intrusive banners, pop-ups, trackers, and ads, this AdGuard family plan is worth a look: It's a lifetime subscription that is currently $39.99 on StackSocial (down from $169.99), but it gets even better—applying the coupon FAMPLAN drops the price to $15.97. That’s a lifetime of ad-blocking for less than what some services charge per month. That said, this plan is only for new users, and you’ll need to redeem your code within 30 days of buying it.
You can access and utilize this plan across nine devices, making it a solid pick for families or anyone juggling multiple gadgets. It works on Windows (7 and newer), macOS (10.15 and newer), iOS (12 and newer), and Android (7 and newer), covering most modern setups. AdGuard goes beyond standard ad-blocking by filtering out annoying pop-ups, stopping autoplay videos, and blocking phishing attempts. It also cuts down on trackers that follow you around the internet, which means less targeted advertising and a little more privacy. Unlike browser-based ad blockers, AdGuard works at the network level, meaning it can block ads in apps and games, too. Setup is straightforward—you’ll get your redemption code via email immediately after buying, so you can start using it right away.
If you’re already an AdGuard user, this deal won’t apply to you, but for new users looking for a one-time payment solution to dodge ads and boost privacy across multiple devices, this might be one of the best deals out there right now.
We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.
If you’re tired of websites bombarding you with intrusive banners, pop-ups, trackers, and ads, this AdGuard family plan is worth a look: It's a lifetime subscription that is currently $39.99 on StackSocial (down from $169.99), but it gets even better—applying the coupon FAMPLAN drops the price to $15.97. That’s a lifetime of ad-blocking for less than what some services charge per month. That said, this plan is only for new users, and you’ll need to redeem your code within 30 days of buying it.
You can access and utilize this plan across nine devices, making it a solid pick for families or anyone juggling multiple gadgets. It works on Windows (7 and newer), macOS (10.15 and newer), iOS (12 and newer), and Android (7 and newer), covering most modern setups. AdGuard goes beyond standard ad-blocking by filtering out annoying pop-ups, stopping autoplay videos, and blocking phishing attempts. It also cuts down on trackers that follow you around the internet, which means less targeted advertising and a little more privacy. Unlike browser-based ad blockers, AdGuard works at the network level, meaning it can block ads in apps and games, too. Setup is straightforward—you’ll get your redemption code via email immediately after buying, so you can start using it right away.
If you’re already an AdGuard user, this deal won’t apply to you, but for new users looking for a one-time payment solution to dodge ads and boost privacy across multiple devices, this might be one of the best deals out there right now.
There are certain situations where you just don't want to draw unnecessary attention to yourself. Things like avoiding making direct eye contact with the teacher in class to avoid answering questions, or that exceptionally long paragraph that's coming up.
In situations like this, it's best to go as unnoticed as possible. Flying under the radar becomes a method of self-preservation, even when you're not doing anything wrong; it's just that getting your teacher's attention at the wrong time would be mighty stressful and inconvenient.
As you grow up, the powers that be are no longer petty authority figures but mighty swollen bureaucracies and their agents of misfortune. Again, it's not that you're doing anything wrong, at least not intentionally, but drawing their gaze is like the eye of Sauron fixating on the Ring when Frodo slips it on his finger, and once the gaze is upon you, there is no going back.
Before you know it, you're going to be drowning in unnecessary administration and all the paperwork that comes with it, with fines for each small violation as a reward.
When it comes to building management, the local authorities' building inspector and the fire marshal are two of those things that you'd rather not have come poking around. With their technical policy manuals in hand, there is not a building in the world that these professionals could walk through where they couldn't pull up some violation that would need rectifying.
Don't get me wrong, this is all for good reason, good technical standards are written in the dark red ink of hard lessons. But when you're on the receiving end of an impossible list of required alterations, it doesn't feel this way. And I'm sure that's exactly how this landlord was feeling after they willingly brought themselves to the attention of the local fire marshal, putting an end to their quarrel with their tenant.
We kept getting fed the same bullshit, and it’s being laundered in the same kind of stories. [The New York Times] sucks, man. It doesn’t suck because it posted something dumb that betrays the paper’s poor commitment to video gaming’s wider place in our culture and artistic landscape. It sucks because it’s doing to games, and AI, what it seems to be doing to every other important beat of the 2020s: taking the worst people at face value.
As James Gunn begins to tease 'Man of Tomorrow' and the 'Supergirl' hype builds, you can now check out this summer's blockbuster on its streaming home.
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